Distance learning has brought new challenges, but it has also brought new approaches to the old challenges. In the classroom I was a big fan of using a visualiser (in part thanks to these blogs by Adam Boxer - "Modelling modelling", and "What's a visualiser worth?"). Outside of the classroom, I have used a graphic tablet for years (I was in charge of social media and merchandising for my sports team at university). It was this blog from Mr BdB that inspired me to try using it in the classroom. Being comfortable with both a visualiser and a graphics tablet, I thought it was an idea to try them as part of how I deliver my live, virtual lessons, and report back on what went well for each and what did go so well.
My findings are below.
Visualiser.
Pros
Line-by-line reveal: I've found, often during distance learning students "get ahead of themselves". They read ahead and get caught up in what is coming rather than focusing on what I'm saying. They ask questions about what it says at the bottom of a slide, or on the next slide, questions that they would not need to ask if they just waited and let me get there. With a visualiser, this doesn't happen. It is very easy to note down the details of what you're saying without students skipping ahead. This is, of course, an advantage shared by the graphics tablet.
Flexibility: Again, another shared advantage - the flexibility given by not having a set path for the lesson. Now, I'm not advocating walking in unprepared, but there is a certain benefit to the freedom of a less rigid lesson. We've all been there when we realise the kids in front of us have no idea what we're talking about and we have to take a massive detour just so they can even begin to understand the intended LOs. With a presentation, that is harder - slide 1 leads into slide 2, whether you like it or not. (I have seen teachers set out with three or four presentations ready to flip between them as needed, and if that works for you, who am I to tell you to stop). With the visualiser or a graphics tablet, it is very easy to take that detour without losing track of where you're going.
Modelling: Here is where the visualiser is "better" than the graphics tablet. I have a binder with a ream of paper in it. I lay out my page exactly how I want my students to lay their page out. Title, date, underlined. I rule off the last lessons work and start the next lesson immediately below it, just as I would expect them to. It is great if a student misses a lesson - just photocopy (or in the current climate, scan with my phone) the relevant page and send it over. My distance learning visualiser lessons are barely distinguishable from my in-person visualiser lessons (the timings are slightly different because of expectations from my school about what a live virtual lesson looks like, but otherwise they are the same).
It is possible to model layout on a graphics tablet, but it isn't as explicit - there aren't margins and lines and they don't see me doing it, they just see a magic cursor appear on the screen and trace the letters like those old Magic Pencil videos.
Cost: You could very easily spend the same amount on a visualiser or a graphics tablet, and you could just as easily spend a whole lot more. I have been very generous in calling my setup a visualiser. It's a webcam on a stick. It cost £40 and there are models from other suppliers that cost from £15. (It is far from perfect, and if I had the money I'd get a fancier one that has things like autofocus and light adjusting and image rotating.)
Cons
What to do with errors: With a visualiser, if you make a mistake, you have to cross it out. Which some people feel some kind of way about. Personally, I don't mind it - I try to encourage my students to show me their mistakes, so having crossings out in my lesson aren't a problem for me. Other people don't like making mistakes. It's a personal preference. The reason I've listed this as a negative is because they take up space in the field of view. There is a limited amount of space on your screen - do you really want it taken up by a misspelled word? I guess one option is to be perfect all the time, but it's a pandemic, who's perfect right now?
Printing: As MR BdB mentions in their blog about the perks of a graphic tablet, they are great for annotating things, mostly past papers. This isn't something you can do with a visualiser without printing. Now, in the Before Times, this wouldn't be a problem, you'd just print out an extra copy when you did the class set. But now we're mostly at home and that means either not printing, or paying for our own printing and no one wants that.
Cost: Yes, I know I put this as a positive, but hear me out. A good visualiser will set you back £100, give or take. You can get a good graphics tablet for well under that (you can also get a good graphics tablet for well over that). At the bottom end, you're looking at much of a muchness in terms of cost, but the graphics tablet was slightly more friendly to my bank balance.
Graphics Tablet
Pros
Line-by-line reveal, flexibility: Just like with the visualiser you have the benefit of the line-by-line reveal, and the flexibility to go where you need with the lesson. Where the graphics tablet has a slight edge over the visualiser depends on what you team it with. I am a big fan of Google's Jamboard. I share a "viewer only" link with students so they can see what I'm doing. Each new "paragraph" is on a new page of the Jamboard, but students have the ability to flick between pages as they see fit. This means students who perhaps realise when doing the questions that they didn't write something down clearly enough, they can go back to that information. With the visualiser they would have to ask me to go back to it, but then other students wouldn't be able to see the questions. This is perhaps less of a positive for the graphics tablet and more for Jamboard, but I wouldn't be able to do what I do without both, so I'm keeping it!
Saving: It is a lot easier to save what I'm doing with the graphics tablet. (Again with Jamboard) it saves automatically - if a student misses something, I can send them the link right away, I don't have the extra step of scanning or photocopying that I would have with the visualiser. I could, of course, record what I but under the visualiser but that involves my voice being on record and that's not something I want to hear played back thankyouverymuch.
Portability: This is an advantage that is probably dependent on the model of each, but my visualiser is a faff. It comes in three parts and there is no way to interlock them or store them or anything. the base is constantly getting lost at bottom of my bag, the cable gets tangled with my laptop charger, no matter how carefully I wrap them both, it's just annoying. My graphics tablet? Tucks into a little pouch with its pen and cable. I have previously lost pens so I am careful to put the pen in first, but it all stores flat which is not something that can be said about my visualiser. There are a few more expensive visualisers that fold flat and are very portable. Then again, portability isn't a massive issue right now because the furthest I travel in my teaching day is from my bed to my "desk" (a folding card table set up next to my dresser).
Cons
Handwriting recognition: My handwriting is ...unique. It's perfectly legible and lovely to look at. But it is not recognition friendly. It's loopy and has been described as "look[ing] like Elvish". No matter what program I use, it cannot tell what I'm writing unless I put real effort into printing. When using pen-friendly programs this isn't an issue - I just leave it handwritten, but when it comes to programs that "tidy up" your writing, or even convert your writing to text? It's a nightmare. SMART has no idea what I'm on about half the time. If I wanted to spend half my life correcting mistakes, I'd just type.
Small writable area vs increased cost: Mr BdB says the smallest writable area you want is 6" x 10" (although I can't for the life of me find where they say this). Which is pretty big. Mine is 4.5' along the longest edge. It's small. It was cheap. The bigger the writable area, the more you're paying. Is it worth it? Maybe. I've not used a larger one. The small area can be irritating, but if you keep what you're writing on (in?) larger enough it's fine. Do I want to pay more for ease? I don't know. I buy take out rather than cooking so maybe.
Conclusion
I don't have one. Sorry guys. I don't know which one I prefer for distance learning. I prefer the organicness of a biro, a stack of lined paper, and a visualiser. It just feels nicer when I spend all day staring at a screen. I prefer the way my writing looks on paper.
But I love the ease of sharing the notes made with the graphics tablet. There's no scrabbling around for a different colour, or a new pen when this one runs out. There's no printing or faff. It's just cleaner.
I will say, when we're back in the classroom? I think the visualiser might win out.